Archive for August, 2015

The amazing talents of Joe Bonamassa and his 3 Kings Tour came to the beautiful Vina Robles Amphitheatre in Paso Robles this past Monday night and it was a show that quite possibly was one of the best at this relatively new venue since it's been opened.

Bonamassa has been paying tribute to the three kings of the blues: B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King on this tour and it has been a perfect undertaking as Joe channels them all with relative ease. It's no secret that Joe can play just about anything and has always surrounded himself with stellar musicians to deliver a musical impact that will last with the concertgoer for a lifetime. This show was no exception.

The 3 Kings Blues Band, which included long time collaborator and former David Letterman Late Night band member Anton Fig on drums, Reese Wynans on keyboards, Michael Rhodes on bass, Kirk Fletcher on guitar and a horn section of Lee Thornburg, Paulie Cerra and Ron Dziubla was amazing in just about every way possible. The band was rounded out by fantastic background vocalists Mahalia Barnes, Jade MacRae and Juanita Tippins.

The show opened with a six song set of Freddie King's greatest, followed by six by Albert King, then another six by B.B. King. Two more from Freddie King, "Hideaway" and "Born Under A Bad Sign" followed, with the amazing set wrapping up with B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone." This really is full circle for Joe, as he had a huge connection with B.B., having opened about 20 shows for the blues legend back in 1989 when he was just 12, and playing with him multiple times over the years.

B.B., Albert and Freddie may be gone, but the thrill definitely isn't as their music lives on through the magic of Joe Bonamassa. He was the 4th King on this night. This was Bonamassa's first ever U.S. amphitheater tour, and it certainly won't be the last, with another stop at Vina Robles hopefully in the future.

Bonamassa stand-up

Bonamassa photo-op

Setlist:
See See Baby
Some Other Day, Some Other Time
Lonesome Whistle Blues
Sittin' On The Boat Dock
You've Got To Love Her With A Feeling
Going Down
I'll Play The Blues for You
I Get Evil
Breaking Up Somebody's Home
Angel of Mercy
Cadillac Assembly Line
Oh, Pretty Woman
Let the Good Times Roll
Never Make Your Move Too Soon
Ole Time Religion
Nobody Loves Me But My Mother
Boogie Woogie Woman
Hummingbird
Hideaway
Born Under A Bad Sign
The Thrill Is Gone

Joe Bonamassa will be releasing "Live At Radio City Music Hall" on CD/DVD & Blueray October 2nd and is filming the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles show on the 3 Kings Tour, with plans to release that in 2016.

It isn't often (if ever) where you see band of brothers break up almost 20 years prior and then through the power of Metal, come back together to release a third album that was originally recorded OVER 20 years ago. Such is the case with California Central Coast Thrash metal band Intrinsic and I was there in the beginnings.

Growing up in San Luis Obispo, California, where Intrinic began, I came in contact with these talented guys originally going to parties and watching them kick ass, always impressed and knowing they had a future in the Thrash Metal scene. They grew from there, opening local shows up and down the coast for the likes of Megadeth, Overkill and many more, as well as headlining in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The band's self-titled debut even was named a top release of the year for 1987 by the top European Metal magazine (at the time) Kerrang!

They followed that up with 1990’s 'Distortion Of Perspective' EP, but while recording what would become their sophomore album, 'Nails,' the direction of the music industry was shifting. If your band didn't have a sound that replicated Metallica, Pantera and a few others, most bands were shit out of luck. So the Nails sessions where shelved for nearly 25 years, until now.

Last year the band connected with Divebomb Records and after hearing an audio preview, they struck up a deal that would bring the 'Nails' album to the masses. There was a major roadblock however, as the band’s sole master recording DAT had become damaged. Thankfully the original engineer had preserved the session reels and a brand new mix was created from scratch. From there, Intrinsic's longtime fans helped raise money via crowd funding, achieving their goal in just three days!

I join Divebomb Records in their excitement to present 'Nails' in this special edition reissue. Mike Mellinger, Chris Binns, Garrett Graddock, Lee Dehmer and Joel "Max" Stern are all solid guys in it for the love of the Metal and I hope this also leads to some more live performances. The 20 page booklet contains band supplied archival photos/flyers and features full lyrics with brand new essay detailing the making of the album. This is a reissue for the fans, by the fans. Order your copy now at tribunalrecords.bigcartel.com/product/intrinsic-nails. The album is also available through Underground Power Records in Germany and Rock Stakk Records in Japan. Check out the CD packaging below and preview clip.

'Nails' includes:
• Never before released sophomore album recorded between 1991-1992
• Newly mixed from original session reels in 2015
• Band supplied archival photos (20 page booklet)
• Brand new essay detailing story of “Nails”
• First time on CD
• Limited edition
• Mastered by Jamie King
• Layout/Restoration by Adam Peterson (Watchtower, Epidemic and Solstice)

I preface this post as a lifelong Motley Crue fan, having seen the band multiple times with my first being at the US Festival in 1983, when the band was on absolute fire. I am and have been a Crue fanatic, with the band bringing so many memorable moments to my life and musical passion.

But on July 25th, Motley Crue had a show at the California Mid State Fair in Paso Robles, CA. that became a nightmare for the crowd (and I'm sure for the band as well). No pyro, no stage set, no vocals (Vince just can't really do it anymore) and no great memory for a time stamp of what will probably be the last time seeing the Crue for a majority of the crowd in attendance.

While I understand the complexities of a Motley money grab to play as many shows as possible before the end of the Crue entity, when you schedule three shows in three different states on consecutive nights (regardless of proximity) and something goes wrong, somebody gets screwed, and this audience sure did.

The story was that while ready to take off from the Tacoma airport in route to San Luis Obispo Airport, a small hole was discovered in their plane, causing concern that the aircraft would not properly depressurize. The decision was made to deboard and unload, with another plane to be chartered flying in from Phoenix. This caused a delay of the show, which originally was slated to start with Alice Cooper's set at 7:30pm. The doors didn't end up opening until 8:30, with the start time announced to be 10pm.

The show eventually started at about 10:30pm, with the total pro Alice and his band ripping through a well received (but short) set of hits. Motley however, hit the stage at about 11pm and played a "stripped" down run through of tracks that lasted until midnight. The band seemed lethargic, possibly due to the day they had already dealt with, but there was no explanation on stage about exactly what happened, no apology, and no connection to their fans to appease the disgruntled rockers in the crowd. That was B.S., as was their set.

We already knew Vince can't hit notes and half sings now, but this really took it to a new level. Not having the pyro and dynamic stage set up brought more attention to the band's deficiencies and there were many that night.

The band made it to Billings, Montana for a show the next night, but had another incident just nights later in Salt Lake City.

As far as the "explanation" Nikki Sixx gave on his 'Sixx Sense' radio show some nights later about the Mid State Fair show, I don't believe a 747 can fly into the small San Luis Obispo airport, but that is the spin they are going with on this debacle. Listen to the explanation here: www.sixxsense.com. Here's a photo posted on Nikki's Twitter showing the plane landing in San Luis Obispo. I can't even tell if that is SLO Airport, and if that plane is a 747, it is the largest plane that has ever landed at that airport. I have found no record of that happening anywhere online, but I could be wrong.

This all being said, I am still glad Motley decided to play the show even though it sucked. But that is coming from someone that didn't have to lay down over a $100 bucks for a ticket. Motley have announced another Central California show in Fresno this December at the Save Mart Center, but I haven't decided if I will be going or not. To eliminate this last Motley memory for me, I just may have to.